"Hey Amanda, psst!" Opening Amanda's door, she sneaks inside, closing it behind her. "Amanda, wake up."
"Huh... wha?" Amanda grunts as she sits up in bed, looking around. "Time for breakfast?"
"What, no, it's 3am. No, I figured it out the fire, the hauntings, all of it." Marinette sits on the edge of Amanda's bed.
"What really?" She asks, suddenly wide awake. "How?"
"Ok, can you keep a secret? I mean a huge life changing secret?" Marinette asks.
"That you are Ladybug? Sure." Amanda shrugs and turns on a light.
"Wait, how?" Marinette blinks.
"Well, only Ladybug would be this distraught over Adrien/Cat's death. Your anger, grief, guilt, don't add up if you didn't know he was Cat, or you weren't Ladybug. That plus all this spooky stuff and visions. It's obvious." She yawns and stretches.
"Dang... you're a genius." She chuckles, and she pulls Azrael out of her bag.
"What's that?" Amanda asks, intrigued.
"What? How rude, I'm him not that.!" Azrael says, as he floats into the air.
"Eeekk! It's alive!" She shrieks as she falls off the bed in fright.
"Shh!" Marinette hisses, then sighs when no one yells.
"This is Azrael. He's the one haunting the hospital. He's a Kwami." Marinette giggles as Amanda tries to separate herself from her blanket, then gets up.
"A Kwami, like a Miraculous?" She gasps and sits back down on the bed.
"Exactly. He's been here since the Victorian Era. He told me what happened in the fire. It's terrible!" Marinette pets Azrael, who sunk down onto her knee.
"Why? What happened?" Amanda reaches out and pets Azrael.
"It's as we thought, but worse. Azrael convinced his friend to start a small fire, to get the attention of the orderlies. They hadn't been fed in three days, locked in and ignored, left to die. So, they started a fire to get attention. It worked. But, they gave someone the idea to start an actual fire and kill everyone. I don't know why they did it, maybe to get rid of them? So they wouldn't have to deal with it anymore? Azrael, do you know why?" Marinette looks at him, he shakes his head no.
"Just that someone told them to. They never said who or why. Not that they cared, they were happy to be rid of them. I never understood why they were so hated. They were nice people, well behaved, friendly. Not sure why they were treated so badly." Azrael sighs and floats off to look around the room.
"Yeah, makes no sense. Unless it was another patient who did it, and the orderlies just let them die?" She asks. Azrael shakes his head.
"No, they said they were ordered to do it. They don't take orders from patients." Azrael lands on her phone and looks it over. "What's this?"
"My phone, haven't you seen one?" She asks, as she picks it up and turns it on for him.
"No, none of the patients have ever had one. And I stay away from the orderlies." He starts hitting random buttons.
"So someone..." Marinette says, trying to get back on track. "Set a fire in that wing and killed them all. We don't know who or why? How do we find out?"
"Records! The boss lady has all the records of the patients. Maybe it says in them?" Amanda says suddenly, excited.
"Right. Shall I walk to her office and ask her if I can look at her confidential records? What if she's the killer? I wish Tikki was here. Ladybug could help." Marinette sighs.
"I can help. You can use me." Azrael waves his hand as a tiny Scythe pin falls into Marinette's hand.
"I have the power to appear anywhere a shadow is. So all you have to do is step into the shadow and think of her office. Boom you're there." Azrael chuckles at their faces.
"That's an awesome power... ok, let's go now. She should be asleep. I can see if the room's empty before appearing, right?" Marinette asks, as she pins the Scythe on.
"Yep, say Darkness Prevails." Azrael zooms around excitedly.
Standing up, Marinette takes a deep breath. "Darkness Prevails!" A wash of cold, black light flows over her as she transforms. Shivering, she looks at Amanda, whose mouth is agape.
"How do I look?" Marinette asks, as a Scythe appears in her hand.
"Like the Grim Reaper, but a girl," Amanda giggles and stands up.
Marinette looks in the mirror and laughs. She has a black hood covering her head and face, without obscuring her vision. But her body has a black leather suit, almost like the one she wore as Lady Noir. With a light mesh black skirt that goes down to her feet for effect.
"I look quite bad ass. I haven't been anyone but Ladybug in years. This is cool. Ok, focus!" Waving the Scythe, a shadow appears.
"Cool! Let me take a photo!" Picking up her phone, she takes a picture of Lady Death posing. "I'll go downstairs and make sure no one comes up to the office. If you hear a whistle, someone's coming. If I scream, they got past me." Amanda nods and rushes out.
Taking a deep breath, Marinette steps into the shadow.
Appearing in the Boss Lady's office, she quickly checks its empty before stepping out into it. Looking around, she sees a file cabinet.
"Bingo." Walking over, she tries to open it, but it's locked. Her Scythe glows as it unlocks and springs open. "Handy..."
Flipping through the files, she looks for Bartholomew's file. "A ha!"
Pulling the file out, she places it on the table and opens it. "Committed by his step-mother who hated disabled people." Marinette picks up a note attached to the file. "He's down syndrome, but high functioning. Had a job, friends, girlfriend. Then his father died, and the step-mother had him committed so she could take his inheritance. She later died in a robbery, leaving Bart in the custody of the state. He was supposed to be released three months ago, but no one ever came to check on him. So I kept him, since I get paid good money for him. Until the money stopped, and now he's just a burden.' Nice lady she is, isn't she." Marinette sighs and places the note into the pocket of her suit.
Placing the file back in the cabinet, she notices the group it's in. "Burdens". Checking the next file, she sees that they got paid by the government, which isn't much. The next was not paid at all and was called a free loader.
"All the people in that wing cost the hospital a lot of money... money the hospital wasn't getting back." Taking out Amanda's phone, she takes a picture of all the filenames and the head doctor's notes on them being burdens, useless, and a drain. Closing the cabinet, she relocks it.
Turning to go, she notices a letter on the desk from an insurance company. Picking it up, she pulls out a letter addressed to the doctor. "She didn't, she wouldn't, no!"
Reading the letter, she sees an attached check for a million euros, as compensation for the damage to the wing. More than enough to recoup her losses and repair the damage.
"She wouldn't. It's just a coincidence." Lady Death freezes when the door shuts. Looking up, the Head Doctor is standing there.
"It's no coincidence, I got the idea from Bartholomew. My insurance pays me extra for every death that happens due to the damage. No one wanted any of those people in that wing. They were all useless members of society. Murderers, retards, baby killers, all they did is drain my bank account. I got the idea from Bartholomew's fire, if I burn down the wing with the people inside. Well then, I will get rid of the burden's and make a shit ton of money. Brilliant!" Smiling, she locks the door and walks towards Lady Death.
"How could you, and I thought Monarch was evil! But you... those people were your responsibility! How could you let them die!" Lady Death yells as she backs away from her.
"How could you let Adrien die, Ladybug..." She smiles when Lady Death freezes. "He was your partner, your lover, your soul mate. How could you let him die!"
Lady Death turns and waves her Scythe, opening a shadow to escape, Head Doctor rushes forward snatching the pin off Lady Death's chest, before shoving her into the shadow.
"NO!" Marinette screams, as she disappears into the darkness. When she sits up, she hears screaming, yelling, and banging on doors. The air's filled with smoke and hard to see.
"Let us out, please! We'll die in here!" A voice screams from ahead.
Marinette gets up and looks around. She's in the wing, and it's on fire. She's trapped like the rest, trapped in a burning wing with no Miraculous to save her this time.
"Shit..."